


The Little Chenosaur

by Valiya



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Chen's Birthday Fan Project, Fluff, Gen, Magic, Self-Discovery, Self-Love, birthday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-03 19:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12153636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valiya/pseuds/Valiya
Summary: Where sometimes you'll learn that there lies a greater power than magic.





	The Little Chenosaur

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually written for a fan birthday project for Jongdae. The prose is written in the style of a children's book, as the original idea was to have the story illustrated, published and sent to Jongdae in time for his birthday. However, it didn't come to fruition and I didn't want to see this go to waste--especially when it was written in haste but with care and affection during a rough time. So here it is, being published on his birthday (it's still the 21st over here) for his stans and general EXO stans to read and enjoy.
> 
> As always, comments/feedback are always welcome.
> 
>  
> 
> P.S.
> 
> The italicised text are quotes from our beautiful Jongdae <3

 

**The Little Chenosaur**

By **theglintofmoonlightonbrokenglass**

 

Kim Jongdae was a beautiful child, inside and out. He was nine years old, with bright eyes and a catlike smile. Jongdae also loved to sing. When he sang, he could make people laugh and put beautiful smiles on their faces. His friends said that he should become a famous pop singer, because he could create and spread happiness with his voice. Once, his big brother had asked him why he loved to sing. Jongdae had replied, “ _Even though the language can be different, the music is the same_. Music is for everybody.”

 But Jongdae wasn’t just good at singing. He went to SM’s Academy of Magic. He wanted to become a magician, too. Jongdae didn’t think that anything could be better than being a magician and a singer. When his mum asked him why, he said “Magicians help people. Singers make people smile. I want to help people and to make them smile, because people need to help each other and smile more.”

* * *

 

On the last week before the summer holidays, one of Jongdae’s teachers, Mr. Jeon, told the class that he was going to give them a special magical task. With several swooshes of his wand, he turned the entire class into different animals. Jongdae looked down at his legs and almost fell over with shock. His skin had become green, shiny scales. Mr. Jeon conjured a large mirror for the class to look at themselves and Jongdae’s jaw dropped. He had turned into a little dinosaur.

Mr. Jeon spoke to the class and said, “Your task is to find out how to turn back into humans. It will be easier for some people, but I know that all of you can do it. There is something you must find in order to become human again. When you all turn back, we will have class again and you must tell me what it is.”

Just as Mr. Jeon had said, some people found it easier to change back into humans. One of Jongdae’s friends, Chanyeol, managed to turn back an hour after the teacher cast the spell.

“How did you do it?” Baekhyun, another of Jongdae’s friends, asked. He had turned into a flying squirrel. He sat on Jongdae’s shoulder, jumping up and down with impatience.

“I’m not sure.” Chanyeol looked puzzled. “I just thought of Mr. Jeon’s words. He said that he knew we could all do it. That was all I thought of.”

For the whole day, Jongdae tried with all his might to try to turn back into a human again. He spoke different spells and closed his eyes and tried to make his magic work. But whenever he looked in the mirror, he was still a little dinosaur. He even made a potion with his friend Minseok from a book they borrowed from their friend, Junmyeon. But when they drank it, only Minseok turned from a cat back into a human.

“ _Ah wae!_ Why won’t it work for me?” Jongdae whined.

“Maybe it’s not the potion that changes you,” Minseok suggested. “Maybe it’s something in yourself.”

“But what’s wrong with me then?” Jongdae asked miserably. “Why can you do it, but I can’t?”

“You can do it, though,” Minseok said firmly. “Mr. Jeon said we all could. You’re just as good at magic as I am. _Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not._ ”

* * *

 

By the time night fell, most of Jongdae’s friends had turned back into humans. It made Jongdae feel sad and confused. He tried not to cry in front of his friends. He tried to make sure he kept smiling.

When his friends had gone up to their dorms to go to sleep, Jongdae sneaked outside to lie down on the grass and look up at the moon. He began to sing to himself. His voice was still beautiful.

Jongdae thought about earlier when he had sung and danced for Baekhyun to cheer him up after Baekhyun had started crying. He remembered how Baekhyun had stopped crying and begun smiling when listening to Jongdae sing. He had also laughed when Jongdae had started to do a funny dance in his dinosaur form. The others had laughed and called him “the Chenosaur.” It was a play off the stage name “Chen”, which he had named himself when he pretended he that was a popstar.

When Jongdae finished his song, he lay still, looking up at the moon and the stars. They winked down at him. It made him think of when he and his friends had practised trying to wink. It had been hard at first. They had laughed when they kept failing but trying to learn how to do it. Jongdae had been one of the first to get it right. He had taught Baekhyun how to do it.

The memory of his friends’ happy faces made Jongdae wish that he would always be able to do that. To make people stop feeling sad and to make them feel happy. He realised that he loved that he could heal people this way. It felt like he had a gift. He imagined using his gift to sing for his friends and to make them smile when they were all back to being human. It made him smile there and then, as he looked up at the stars.

* * *

 

In the end, Jongdae fell asleep still lying on the grass. When he woke up, he found himself feeling very hungry and cold. When he looked down at his legs, he saw that they were no longer covered in green scales. He stood up and ran to the fountain in the courtyard and looked at his reflection. He was human again. Jongdae whooped and punched the air with glee.

The big academy doors opened and out ran Minseok. He was grinning.

“You did it! You beat the spell!” Minseok gave Jongdae a high-five.

“I should have believed in myself more, like you told me,” said Jongdae. He began to laugh when Minseok pretended to look smug.

“You didn’t just need to believe in yourself,” Minseok said. “There was also something else that you needed.”

“Yes.” Jongdae nodded. “I figured it out last night.” Then he made Minseok laugh by pretending to roar like a dinosaur.

* * *

 

In the afternoon, Mr. Jeon held their last class before their summer holiday.

“Did you all figure out what the key was to breaking the spell?” He asked.

Jongdae put his hand up in the air. Mr. Jeon picked him to answer.

“You needed to believe in yourself,” Jongdae explained. “You needed to love yourself inside and out. Even if we all looked funny as animals, we needed to love ourselves on the inside and to love and believe in others to find the key that would break the spell.”

Mr. Jeon smiled brightly.

“Exactly, Jongdae. To love yourself and to love others is something we must always remember when we grow up. To do that, we must believe.”

After class, Jongdae and his friends ran outside to play on the grass. Kyungsoo, who was very good at baking, shared some cookies he had made the night before. While his friends ate, Jongdae got to his feet and cleared his throat.

“When I become a popstar and a magician, I want to sing a song about when I was a dinosaur,” he said. His friends laughed.

“Why?” Chanyeol asked. He was still laughing and trying not to spill cookie crumbs all over the place. Kyungsoo gave him a tissue and told him to clean up.

“Because it taught me that _although we can’t always have good things happening_ , if you smile and believe in yourself, _things will turn out okay_ ,” Jongdae said wisely.

“Then let it all out, little Chenosaur,” Chanyeol said. “Show us your best kind of magic.”

So Jongdae took a deep breath, closed his eyes and began to sing.

 

 

**_The End._ **

 

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to connect with me on Twitter, Tumblr or Instagram!
> 
> Twitter: @valiyarose  
> Tumblr URL: theglintofmoonlightonbrokenglass  
> IG: valiyarose


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